As an apparatus for monitoring the state around a vehicle by using a camera, a system in which a camera is installed on a rear trunk room or the like of the vehicle so as to present images obtained by this camera to a driver is conventionally known. Thus, the driver can be informed of the state in the rear of the vehicle without viewing a mirror. Furthermore, a system in which not only camera images but also travel path of tires overlapping the camera images are presented (which system is herein designated as the “conventional system 1”) has recently been known. Thus, the driver can not only grasp the state in the rear of the vehicle but also predict the state ahead of the vehicle.
In the conventional system 1, however, although the state in the rear of the vehicle can be grasped, the state in regions other than the rear should be unavoidably checked by visual observation and with the mirror. In contrast, an example of a system for informing a driver of the positional relationship between the vehicle and the surrounding state objectively and comprehensively is an apparatus disclosed in Literature 1, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-78692. Literature 1 discloses a system (herein designated as the “conventional system 2”) in which a plurality of (eight) cameras for providing images for a vehicle are installed on peripheral portions of the vehicle so that images obtained by transforming camera images captured by the respective cameras (hereinafter referred to as the “partial images”) can be synthesized to obtain a new image of an extensive view around the vehicle. In particular, since continuity in boundaries between adjacent partial images is retained in transforming and arranging the camera images captured by the plural cameras, an image in which the rough positional relationship between the vehicle and a nearby object can be easily grasped can be presented to the driver.